Sunday, March 1, 2009

Fashion Me A View: The Top 25



There are many, many writers that have influenced, not necessarily my writing style, but certainly my cultural template or the lens that shapes my perceptions of life and the world around me. Those that have probably had the most effect and which are taken from the various genres of popular fiction,religion, scholarship, social justice, and even children's books, include but are not limited to the following 25:

1. Benjamin E. Mays
2. Derrick Bell
3. Taylor Branch
4. Gwendolyn Pough
5. Elaine Richardson
6. Joan Morgan
7. Alice Walker
8. Maya Angelou
9. Nikki Giovanni
10. James Cone
11. Toni Cade Bambara
12. James Baldwin
13. Jim Wallis
14. Peter Gomes
15. Michael Eric Dyson
16. Samuel D. Proctor
17. Ralph Ellison
18. Zora Neale Hurston
19. Lorraine Hansberry
20. Langston Hughes
21. Virginia Hamilton
22. Angela Davis
23. Howard Thurman
24. Linda Hollies
25. Charisse Carney-Nunes

Ms. Lady Deborah tagged me and I will return the favor to:

Pearl
Pop Art Diva
ProfPC

7 comments:

SjP said...

This was probably one of the hardest tags to complete. My list just kept on growing and growing. Much obliged for including so many of the ones I missed.

Solomon said...

Great list!

LISA VAZQUEZ said...

Hello there!

This is a wonderful list!

Two of my father's friends are on it...the late James Baldwin and Angela Davis....I have fond childhood memories of both of them.

James Baldwin referred to himself as "Jim". When I was a little one, he signed his books with my name and told me that I would read them and like them when I grew up! *LOL*

I am so thankful that my father kept those books. They are cherished by me now that he has gone on.

Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa

Vérité Parlant said...

I'm with SJP, the list could on and on. Like you, Rev, I was thinking not only of which writers influenced my writing but also which writers influenced my cultural outlook. I've learned something reading your list and see some writers I need to check out. :-)

Believer said...

As a child, reading was never a love of mine, and as an adult, I’ve only completed a handful. I always had other interests and would much rather be caught up in conversation. I’m a talker and grew up fast.

pjazzypar said...

The list is the bomb Rev! There were just so many influential authors that it was difficult to decide.

Pearl said...

I would have to say that the writers that have most influenced me, my style, the thoughts in my head -- in no particular order:

1. P.J. Wodehouse (his wit)
2. Mark Twain (his feisty political writings)
3. Zora Neale Hurston (her dialogue and creativity with the language)
4. Ray Bradbury (his ability to write simply and memorably)
5. August Rainn (his deceptively simple plays, his ability to say so much with so little)